Exchanging Personal Information to Determine a Common Interest

ABSTRACT

A user agent of a user selects another user having a user agent. The user agents exchange personal information about the user and personal information about the other user. The user agent determines whether a common interest exists between the two users based on the exchange of personal information. The other user is added to a social networking webpage of the user when the user agent determines that a common interest exists.

BACKGROUND

Electronic social networks enable users to communicate and shareinformation with other users of the social network, such as familymembers, friends, and business contacts. In order to build, personalize,and maintain a user space in the social network, users interact with acomputer to enter personal information, upload photos, search andcommunicate with friends, and perform a multitude of other tasks.Entering such information and interfacing with the social network can belabor intensive and time-consuming for the users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a computer system in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a method to populate a social networking webpage of a user inaccordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a method to present alternative data into fields and/orentries on a social networking webpage in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4 is an electronic device with a display that presents differentdata alternatives for a field and/or entry of a social networkingwebpage in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a method to discover and add individuals to a social networkof a user in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is another method to discover and add individuals to a socialnetwork of a user in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a method to discover individuals with a common interest withinproximity of each other in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 8A is an electronic device of a first user with a display thatshows a common interest between the first user and a second user inaccordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 8B is the electronic device of FIG. 8A that shows to the first useridentifying and locating information of the second user in accordancewith an example embodiment.

FIG. 9A is an electronic device of the second user with a display thatshows a common interest between the second user and the first user inaccordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 9B is the electronic device of FIG. 9A that shows to the seconduser identifying and locating information of the first user inaccordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a method to obtain information about an individual for a userin accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a method to create and/or gather information about a user andact upon this information in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an electronic device with a display that shows examples ofcommon interest settings in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an electronic device with a display that shows examples ofprivacy settings in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an electronic device with a display that shows fields and/orentries of a social networking webpage in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 15 is an electronic device in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One example embodiment is a method in which a first user agent of afirst user selects, without knowledge of and instruction from the firstuser, an electronic device of a second user having a second user agent.The first and second user agents exchange personal information abouttheir users. The first user agent determines whether a common interestexists between the first user and the second user based on the exchangeof personal information. The second user is added to a social networkingwebpage of the first user based on the determining by the first useragent that the common interest exists.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments include systems, apparatus, and methods thatexchange personal information to determine a common interest betweenusers.

FIG. 1 is a computer system 100 in accordance with an exampleembodiment. The computer system includes a plurality of electronicdevices 110A to 110N, a plurality of servers 120A to 120M, and storage130 in communication with each other through one or more networks 150.The electronic devices, servers, and storage communicate through thenetworks to execute blocks and methods discussed herein. Blocks andmethods discussed herein are executed with the computer system or one ormore of the electronic devices and servers.

The servers 120A to 120M include a processor unit with one or moreprocessors and computer readable medium (CRM), such as random accessmemory and/or read only memory. Server 120A includes processor unit 160Aand CRM 162A, and server 120M includes processor unit 160M and CRM 162M.The processing unit communicates with the CRM to execute operations andtasks that implement or assist in implementing example embodiments. Oneor more of the servers can also include a user agent and user profile,such server 120M including user agent 166 and user profile 168.

The electronic devices 110A to 110N include a processor unit with one ormore processors and computer readable medium (CRM), such as randomaccess memory and/or read only memory. Electronic device 110A includesprocessor unit 170A and CRM 172A, and electronic device 110N includesprocessor unit 170N and CRM 172N. The processing unit communicates withthe CRM to execute operations and tasks that implement or assist inimplementing example embodiments. One or more of the electronic devicescan also include a user agent and a user profile, such as electronicdevice 110A including user agent 176 and user profile 178.

By way of example, the electronic devices 110A to 110N include, but arenot limited to, handheld and/or portable computing devices, electronicdevices with cellular or mobile phone capabilities, digital cameras,desktop computers, servers, portable computers (such as tablet andnotebook computers), handheld audio playing devices (example, handhelddevices for downloading and playing music and videos), personal digitalassistants (PDAs), combinations of these devices, and other portable andnon-portable electronic devices and systems. An example of an electronicdevice and/or server also appears in FIG. 14.

By way of example, the networks 150 can include one or more of theinternet, an intranet, an extranet, a cellular network, a local areanetwork (LAN), a home area network (HAN), metropolitan area network(MAN), a wide area network (WAN), public and private networks, etc.

By way of example, the storage 130 can include various types of storagethat include, but are not limited to magnetic storage and opticalstorage, such as hard disks, magnetic tape, disk cartridges, universalserial bus (USB) flash memory, compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM),digital video disk read-only memory (DVD-ROM), CD-recordable memory,CD-rewritable memory, photoCD, and web-based storage. Storage caninclude storage pools that are hosted by third parties, such as anoperator of a data center. The electronic devices and/or servers can usethe storage to store files, software applications, data objects, etc.Storage can be accessed through a web service application programminginterface, a web-based user interface, or other mechanisms.

FIG. 2 is a method to populate a social networking webpage of a user inaccordance with an example embodiment.

According to block 200, a determination is made as to which fieldsand/or entries to populate at a social networking webpage of a user.This determination can be made by the user, an electronic device, and/ora user agent of the user. Fields and/or entries to populate include, butare not limited to, user space at a social network, informationpresented and/or displayed at webpages, memory allocated and/or providedto a user at the social network, and fields and/or entries that areblank or empty, include information already, are required to includeinformation, are periodically or continually or continuously updated,and are newly created.

Social networking websites can have different fields and/or entries thatdepend on the type of social network. For instance, a social networkingwebsite catering to professional networking and career building hasdifferent fields to populate from a social networking website cateringto photograph sharing among members.

Example fields and/or entries include, but are not limited to,information about the user (such as sports, employment information,hobbies, interest, demographics, geographical location of the user,etc.), photographs of the user, social profile data, videos, personalpreferences of the user, memberships, friends of the user, family of theuser, general account information (such as name, username, loginpassword, email, language, etc.), privacy settings (such as whatinformation is public and/or private, who can search and see userinformation, who can search and see user posts, etc.), posts to thesocial networking website, emails, security information (such assecurity questions and answers, login notifications, applicationpasswords, recognized electronic devices, etc.), payment information(such as credit card information), etc. For example, demographic fieldscan include one or more of age, gender, race, ethnicity, mobility, homeownership, marital status, employment status, disabilities, incomelevel, etc. As another example, photographs can include a profilepicture, cover photographs, photographs of family, vacation photographs,etc.

According to block 210, information is selected from user profile datain order to populate one or more of the fields and/or entries of thesocial networking webpage. This selection can be made by the user, anelectronic device, and/or a user agent of the user. User profile data isprovided, captured, generated, received, retrieved, uploaded, and/ortransmitted to complete one or more of the fields and/or entries.

According to block 220, the populated fields and/or entries of thesocial networking webpage are presented to the user. These fields and/orentries are provided to the user, such as being displayed to the user ona display of an electronic device, stored in memory, and/or transmittedover a network to the user and/or an electronic device.

In an example embodiment, the user is not required to spend timebuilding or creating the social networking webpage, uploading personaldata to the social networking webpage, filling or completing fieldsand/or entries, typing personal information into the webpage, etc.Instead, an electronic device and/or user agent automatically completesthese tasks on behalf of the user. These tasks include executing one ormore of blocks 200, 210, and 220 for the user.

Consider an example in which a user instructs his user agent to buildand maintain personal information that is presented for others to viewat a social networking webpage of the user. The user agent determineswhich fields to populate on behalf of the user and selects whichpersonal information of the user will populate such fields. The useragent continually changes the personal information being presented atthe social networking webpage as the user agent receives and/or createsnew personal information about the user. When the user navigates to thewebsite of the social networking webpage, one or more data fields and/orentries have already been automatically filled in and/or pre-populatedby the user agent. These fields and/or entries are displayed to theuser.

Consider an example in which a user decides to join a social networkingwebsite as a new user and instructs his user agent to complete this taskfor him. The user also instructs the user agent to build and/or designhis webpage at the social networking website. In response to thisrequest, the user agent navigates to the social networking website,creates and/or opens a new user account for the user, provides personalinformation requested by the social networking website, providespersonal information to complete fields and/entries, selects picturesand videos of the user to upload (such as deciding which pictures of theuser to upload and which pictures not to upload to the social networkingwebsite), and takes further steps to create and build the socialnetworking website for the user (such as arranging a layout of thewebpage, selecting colors, determining which information about the userto post and which information not to post, answering questions posed bythe website, determining privacy settings, establishing a username andpassword, sending friend requests, etc.). After the social networkingwebpage is completed, the user agent notifies the user (such as sendinga text message to the user stating as follows: “I created and built yoursocial networking website per your request. Please login with theusername and password provided below and review your webpage. Let meknow if you have further changes.”). The user reviews the socialnetworking webpage and can approve the social networking webpage, deleteinformation from the fields and/or entries, add information to thefields and/or entries, modify information in the fields and/or entries,and/or instruct the user agent to complete these tasks.

Consider another example in which a user pre-approves a socialnetworking webpage before a user agent of the user completes building anew social networking webpage and/or commences building the socialnetworking webpage. For example, the user believes that the user agentcan accurately build the social networking webpage on behalf of the useraccording to the intentions and desires of the user and, hence, approvesthe social networking webpage before viewing it and/or before thewebpage is even built.

Consider an example in which a user decides to join a social network,such as FACEBOOK. The user is not a member of this social networkingwebsite and desires to join as a new member. In order to join the socialnetworking website, the user instructs a user agent to join the socialnetworking website and setup the social networking webpages on behalf ofthe user. In response to this request, the user agent navigates to thewebsite of FACEBOOK and completes steps to register and/or sign up theuser as a new member. The user agent also creates and/or builds socialnetworking webpages on behalf of the user and completes tasks thatinclude providing profile information (such as providing personalinformation regarding previous and/or current place of employment,education (such as high school and universities attended), residence(such as home and business addresses), family information (such asnumber of brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, etc.), contact information(such as phone numbers, email address, address of personal website,etc.)), sends friend requests to family, friends, and/or businesscontacts (such as extracting names from a contact list of the user),uploading photos of the user and user's family and friends, selectingand uploading a cover photograph (such as selecting a favoritephotograph from a plurality of photographs of the user), organizing ahomepage of the user (such as designing a layout fields and/or entriesthat appear on the webpage of the user), providing information into acalendar (such as uploading dates of upcoming birthdates, anniversaries,holidays, vacations, and other events), completing account settings(such as providing name, address, telephone number, email address,password, username, etc.), completing privacy settings, creatingadvertisements, and engaging other members of the social networkingwebpage (such as providing posts, sending texts, uploading hyperlinks,sending requests for friends of the user to join the social network ofthe user, etc.).

Consider another example in which the user is already a member of asocial network. The user instructs his handheld portable electronicdevice (HPED) to build, update, change, and/or maintain the existingsocial networking webpage on behalf of the user. In response to thisrequest, the HPED executes these tasks on behalf of the user.

Information to build, to update, to change, and/or to maintain a socialnetworking webpage of a user can be retrieved from electronic memory orstorage, such as memory on an electronic device. By way of example, thisinformation is obtained from and/or stored as user profile data.

In order to build, maintain, and/or update user profile data, one ormore electronic devices monitor, collect, store, analyze, process,and/or transmit data with respect to the user and/or electronic devices,such as electronic devices that the user owns and/or electronic deviceswith which the user interfaces. By way of example, this data includesuser behavior on an electronic device, installed client hardware,installed client software, locally stored client files, informationobtained or generated from a user's interaction with a network (such aswebpages on the internet), email, peripheral devices, servers, otherelectronic devices, programs that are executing, etc. The electronicdevices collect user behavior on or with respect to an electronic device(such as the user's computer), information about the user, informationabout the user's computer, and/or information about the computer'sand/or user's interaction with the network.

By way of example, a user profile builder monitors user activities andcollects information used to create a user profile and/or gatherpersonal information. The profile builder monitors the user'sinteractions with one or more electronic devices, the user'sinteractions with other software applications executing on electronicdevices, activities performed by the user on external or peripheralelectronic devices, etc. The profile builder collects both contentinformation and context information for the monitored user activitiesand then stores this information. By way of further illustration, thecontent information includes contents of webpages accessed by the user,graphical information, audio/video information, uniform resourcelocators (URLs) visited, searches or queries performed by the user,items purchased over the internet, advertisements viewed or clicked,information on commercial or financial transactions, videos watched,music played, interactions between the user and a user interface of anelectronic device, commands (such as voice and typed commands),hyperlinks clicked or selected, etc.

The user profile builder also gathers and stores information related tothe context in which the user performed activities associated with anelectronic device. By way of example, such context information includes,but is not limited to, an order in which the user accessed webpages(user's browser navigation), a frequency or number of times a usernavigated to a web location, information regarding the user's responseto interactive advertisements and solicitations, information about alength of time spent by the user on the webpages, information on thetime when the user accessed the webpages, etc.

As previously stated, the user profile builder also collects content andcontext information associated with the user interactions with variousdifferent applications executing on one or more electronic devices. Forexample, the user profile builder monitors and gathers data on theuser's interactions with a web browser, an electronic mail (email)application, a word processor application, a spreadsheet application, adatabase application, a cloud software application, and/or any othersoftware application executing on an electronic device.

By way of illustration, the user profile builder collects contentinformation for emails that include one or more of the recipientinformation, sender information, email subject title information, andthe information related to the contents of the email includingattachments. Context information for an email application may includethe time when the user receives emails, time when the user sends emails,subject matter of the emails, frequency of the emails, recipients, etc.

Based on the user profile and/or data discussed in connection with theuser profile, an electronic device and/or user agent can determinepreferences of the user and make informed decisions and/or predictionson how to build, update, change, and/or maintain a website (such as asocial networking webpage of the user). An analysis of one or morepieces of information included in the user profile occurs in order tomake an intelligent prediction about how the user desires to build,update, change, and/or maintain personal information. For example, anintelligent and/or machine-learning user agent can emulate a personalityof its user and make decisions on behalf of the user. The decisions madeby the user agent emulate the decisions that would have been made by theuser.

Consider an example in which a first user agent of a first useractivates a camera on a HPED of the first user and takes a photograph ofa second user. This photograph depicts the second user smiling and in adelightful mood. The first and second users are not even aware that thephotograph was taken. The first user agent sends the photograph to asecond user agent that is the user agent of the second user. Forexample, the first user agent transmits the photograph and a message tothe second user agent as follows: “Hi. I just took this picture.”). Inprevious instances, the second user has sent family and friendsphotographs that depict the second user in a joyous situation. Thesecond user agent uses facial recognition to determine that thephotograph is the second user and that the second user is smiling. Thisinformation and the previous instances of the second user sendingsimilar photographs contribute to a determination that the second userlikes this photograph and would want it posted to the internet. Inresponse to this determination, the second user agent posts thisphotograph to the social networking webpage of the second user. Thispost can occur without express permission from, authorization from, oreven knowledge of the first and/or second users (such as when the seconduser trusts a judgment of the second user agent to select and postphotographs to the social networking webpage on behalf of the seconduser).

Consider another example in which a user takes a series of short videoswhile vacationing in Hawaii with a camera that automatically uploads thevideos to a cloud storage location. The user reviews the videos, deletessome of them, and saves one video that shows the user's family swimmingat the beach. An electronic device and/or user agent reviews the videosat the cloud storage location, determines that one of the videos wassaved, and determines from a global positioning system (GPS) and eventscalendar that the user is on vacation in Hawaii. The electronic deviceand/or the user agent analyzes the saved video and determines that theyshow the user's family swimming at a beach in Hawaii. This informationcontributes to a determination that the user likes this video, and inresponse to this determination, the electronic device and/or the useragent automatically posts this video to the social networking webpage ofthe user with a caption (such as “Swimming with family while on vacationin Hawaii”). Thus, the social networking webpage of the user was updatedwithout input and effort from the user. The user was not required to loginto the social networking website, interact with a user interface (UI)and/or graphical user interface (GUI) to select and upload the video andtype the caption. Instead, the electronic device and/or user agentperformed these actions on behalf of the user.

Consider another example in which a user and friends go to Chinatown fordinner. During dinner, the user sends a text message or states during aphone call that the user is having a great dinner. An electronic deviceand/or user agent extracts and analyzes keywords from the text messageor phone call to determine the actions of the user and the mood of theuser. Information about the mood of the user can also be obtained fromface-tracking applications (such as emotion-recognition software thatrecognizes facial emotions) and/or speech/voice analysis applications(such as voice recognition software that recognizes voice emotions).Based on an analysis of this information and a GPS locationdetermination, the electronic device and/or user agent creates andcomposes a post that describes the event and/or emulates a post that theuser would write about the event. The electronic device and/or useragent then provides the post to the Internet, (e.g., posting the post tothe social networking webpage of the user). This post notes thelocation, activities, and mood of the user (such as “Having a great timeeating dinner in Chinatown”).

Consider another example in which a user receives a reminder from anevent calendar stating that the user has an office Christmas party withco-workers this evening at 6:00 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. that evening, the userbegins to drive toward the office to attend the party. An electronicdevice and/or user agent determines from GPS, the time of day, and theevent calendar that the user is going to the office Christmas party.Based on this information, the electronic device and/or user agentupdates the social networking webpage of the user (such as posting“Heading to Christmas party with co-workers. Happy holidays.”).

Consider the example above in which the user is driving to the Christmasparty. During the drive toward the office, the user gets a text messagefrom a co-worker at the office party. The message asks the user whattime he is coming to the party. The user cannot respond to the textmessage while driving or may not even be aware that such a text messagewas sent. The user agent reviews the text message and responds on behalfof the user (such as stating “I'm driving to the party now. See yousoon.”).

Information included in the user profile assists in making thedetermination about user preferences and assists in determining how tobuild, update, change, and/or maintain the social networking webpage ofthe user. For example, the user profile can include preferences that areobtained from previous and/or historic selections, UI events, GUIevents, text messages, emails, phone calls, writings, etc. For instance,a record is maintained of previous websites visited, advertisementsviewed, products purchased, locations visited, photographs and videostaken/saved/deleted, text messages sent and received, phone calls madeand received, interactions with electronic devices, etc.

Other information included in the user profile can also assist in makingthe determination as to how to build, update, change, and/or maintain awebsite, a network location, a social networking webpage of the user,etc. For example, the user may prefer certain geographical locations(such as mountains, beach, desert, jungle, water, land, sky, etc.),prefer certain types of activities (such as sports or a certain leisureactivities), or prefer certain affiliations (such as political,religious, scholastic, environmental, etc.).

One or more electronic devices and/or user agents determine, select,and/or control how to build, update, change, and/or maintain the socialnetworking webpage of the user. This electronic device could be owned bythe user (such as an HPED of the user) and/or an electronic deviceand/or user agent authorized by the user to make such a determination(such as a cloud or server in communication with an electronic device ofthe user).

FIG. 3 is a method to present alternative information into fields and/orentries on a social networking webpage in accordance with an exampleembodiment.

According to block 300, alternative information into a field and/orentry is determined for a social networking webpage of a user. Thisdetermination can be made by the user, an electronic device, and/or auser agent of the user.

Some fields and/or entries in a social networking webpage can bepopulated with different information. Different data options aregenerated and/or presented as alternatives or choices for the fieldsand/or entries.

Consider an example in which a social networking website enables usersto upload a profile picture that is displayed on a homepage of a user'ssocial networking webpage. This user may have multiple differentalternative pictures that can be displayed as the profile picture. Auser agent for the user retrieves numerous profile pictures of the userthat the user agent believes would be favorite pictures of the user. Theuser agent reviews, analyzes, and selects one of these pictures andpresents the selected picture and the alternative favorite pictures tothe user. The user agent can also rank the pictures in a hierarchy (suchas providing the user with a first picture that the user agent believeswould be a first favorite choice of the user, a second picture that theuser agent believes would be a second favorite choice of the user, athird picture . . . ).

According to block 310, a determination is made as to whether the userwants to change a field and/or entry at the social networking webpage.This determination can be made by the user, an electronic device, and/ora user agent of the user. If the answer to this determination is “no”then flow proceeds to block 320, and the user accepts the data presentedin the fields and/or entries of the social networking webpage. If theanswer to this determination is “yes” then flow proceeds to block 330.

Consider an example in which a user routinely goes out to dinner onFriday night and posts his location on a website (such as posting“Having seafood dinner at the beach”). A machine learning user agentdetermines from this pattern of previous posts that the user would wantto post his location as he has previously done. On the next Fridaynight, the user goes out to dinner. The user agent determines ageographical location of the user, determines a name of a restaurantwhere the user is eating, and posts the location of the user on thewebsite on behalf of the user (such as “Having Italian food in LittleItaly”). The user agent performs these tasks without instruction fromthe user to post the information and without knowledge of the user ofthe information being posted.

According to block 330, the user is presented with alternativeinformation into a field and/or entry of the social networking webpage.The user is presented with different alternatives or choices to completeor fill one or more fields and/or entries of the social networkingwebpage. These alternatives are provided to the user, such as beingdisplayed to the user on a display of an electronic device, stored inmemory, and/or transmitted over a network to the user and/or anelectronic device.

According to block 340, the user selects alternative information for afield and/or entry in the social networking webpage of the user. Theuser can take an action to select alternative data to populate a fieldand/or entry. For example, the user clicks on one of the dataalternatives, speaks or types an acceptance or rejection of a choicebeing presented, transmits or causes to be transmitted a command toselect an option being presented, etc. Flow loops back to block 310.

Consider the example above in which the user routinely goes out todinner on Friday night and posts his location on a website. On the nextFriday night, the user goes out to dinner with his smartphone. While atdinner, the smartphone of the user vibrates and displays a messageasking if he wants to post his location (such as stating as follows: “Doyou want to post your dinner location?”). The message also displaysalternative posts from which the user can select. As such, the user doesnot have to enter the post. Instead, the user agent already determinedthe location of the user, determined the name of the restaurant wherethe user is eating, and presented the user with alternative posts thatare based on an analysis of previously approved posts (such as the useragent providing the user with alternatives as follows: “Select a post:(1) Having Italian food in Little Italy, (2) Dining at my favoriteItalian restaurant, or (3) Enjoying some delicious Italian food”). Theuser taps on the screen of the smartphone to select one of the threeposts, and the user agent automatically posts the selection to thewebsite.

FIG. 4 is an electronic device 400 with a display 410 that presentsdifferent information alternatives 420 for a field and/or entry of asocial networking webpage. For illustration, FIG. 4 shows a photographicfield and/or entry, but other types of fields and/or entries discussedherein can also be presented. In this figure, a single photographicfield is duplicated and simultaneously presented multiple times witheach photographic field presenting different information (i.e.,presenting a different photograph in this example).

By way of example, the display 410 presents the information alternatives420 in a hierarchical format in which a first or current photograph 430is presented at the top of the hierarchy. Different alternativephotographs 440, 450, 460, and 470 are simultaneously presented belowthe current photograph 430. For instance, photograph 430 is a current orfirst choice photograph, such as being a favorite photograph selected bythe electronic device and/or user agent. Photograph 440 is a secondchoice photograph selected by the electronic device and/or user agent.Photograph 450 is a third choice photograph selected by the electronicdevice and/or user agent. Photograph 460 is a fourth choice photographselected by the electronic device and/or user agent. Photograph 470 is afourth choice photograph selected by the electronic device and/or useragent. Box 480 (indicating “Other”) enables the user to select aphotograph not presented on the display (such as a photograph stored inmemory but not currently being displayed).

The user can click on one of the photographs 430, 440, 450, 460, or 470to indicate this photograph as being selected for the photographic fieldand/or entry. Alternatively, the user can take no action, and theselected first or presented photograph is selected by default.Alternatively, the user can select and/or approve one of the photographsusing another action (such as dragging and dropping one of thephotographs to the top position with the photograph at the top positionthen automatically taking the place of the photograph being dragged,selecting one of the photographs using a pull-down menu option,highlighting one of the photographs with a cursor, speaking the name ofone of the photographs, touching the display with a finger at a locationwhere one of the photographs resides, etc.).

FIG. 5 is a method to discover and add individuals to a social networkof a user.

According to block 500, an electronic device and/or user agent of a userselects an electronic device and/or user agent of another individual.The electronic device and/or user agent of the user selects theelectronic device and/or user agent of another individual based on oneor more factors. These factors include, but are not limited to,proximity or geographical distance between the electronic device and/oruser agent of the user and the electronic device and/or user agent ofthe other individual, proximity or geographical distance between theuser and the other individual, a previous communication between the userand the other individual and/or their respective user agents, a commoninterest and/or experience between the user and the other individual, amake or model of the electronic device of the other individual, afamilial relation between the user and the other individual, a businessrelation between the user and the other individual, a past, present,and/or future meeting between the user and the other individual, arequest from the user and/or other individual, a physical appearance ofthe user and/or other individual, demographic information (such as age,gender, race, ethnicity, mobility, home ownership, marital status,employment status, disabilities, income level, etc.) of the user and/orother individual, affiliation (such as religious, political, social,etc.) of the user and/or other individual, a membership of the userand/or other individual, an occupation or hobby of the user and/or otherindividual, information obtained from a network search that uses a websearch engine or web crawler, a random selection, a patterned selection,artificial intelligence (such as a system using an intelligent agent),and a method using probability and/or a statistical method.

According to block 510, the electronic device and/or user agent of theuser and the electronic device and/or user agent of the other individualexchange information. For example, the electronic device and/or useragent of the user and the electronic device and/or user agent of theother individual exchange personal information and/or informationincluded in their respective user profiles. As another example, theelectronic device and/or user agent of the user and the electronicdevice and/or user agent of the other individual exchange informationdiscussed in connection with block 200, and/or factors and/orinformation discussed in connection with block 500.

According to block 520, the electronic device and/or user agent of theuser determines a common interest between the user and the otherindividual. Examples of this common interest include, but are notlimited to, personal information, information in and/or associated witha user profile, information discussed in connection with block 200,factors and/or information discussed in connection with block 500, andinformation and/or data collected, processed, transmitted, and/or storedwith an electronic device.

According to block 530, based on the common interest and/or informationexchange, the electronic device and/or user agent of the user determineswhether to add the other individual to a social network of the user. Forexample, the electronic device and/or user agent of the user adds theother individual as a friend or contact to the social network of theuser. As another example, this other individual is added or saved to anelectronic memory, such as a contact list, an address book, or adirectory of the user. Information exchanged between the electronicdevice and/or user agent of the user and the electronic device and/oruser agent of the other individual can also be provided to the user,such as being displayed to the user on a display of an electronicdevice, stored in memory, and/or transmitted over a network to the userand/or an electronic device.

Consider an example in which a user walks around a campus of auniversity. As the user walks around the campus, a user agent of theuser communicates with other user agents of individuals that are alsolocated on the campus and/or other user agents of individuals that areenrolled at the university. The user agents exchange personalinformation with each other to determine when users have a commoninterest with each other. The user agents thus help users find friends.A user agent for a user can find a friend that the user otherwise wouldnot have found. This friend and user share common interests with eachother. When the user agent for the user finds another individual withsufficient common interest, then this other individual is added to asocial networking webpage of the user. The user is informed of thisaddition after the other individual is already added to the socialnetworking webpage of the user. Further, the actions of the user agentscan occur without knowledge of and/or without instruction from theirrespective users. Thus, users may not be aware that their user agentsare communicating with other user agents and/or may not have instructedtheir user agents to make a communication exchange with a specified orparticular other user agent.

Consider an example in which a handheld portable electronic device(HPED) of a user includes, communicates with, and/or executes a softwareprogram that locates other individuals who are within proximity of theuser (for example, HPEDs and servers in communication with the HPEDsexecute the program). The program also causes an exchange of personalinformation in order to determine individuals that have a commoninterest with each other. For instance, while a user walks around ashopping mall, the HPED of the user locates other HPED of individualsthat are also in the shopping mall (such as locating other individualsthat are also physically in the shopping mall, near the shopping mall,or within visual proximity of the user while in the shopping mall). TheHPED of the user and the HPEDs of the locating individuals exchangepersonal information with each other about their respective users. Auser of an HPED is notified when another individual with a commoninterest is discovered. The notification includes a location of theother individual (such as informing the user that the other individualis a specified distance from the user within the shopping mall, showingthe user which store in the shopping mall the other individual islocated, or showing the user a location of the other individual on a mapof the shopping mall that displays on the HPED). This process oflocating other individuals and exchanging personal information can occurwithout knowledge of and/or instruction from the users (for example, theusers are not aware that the information exchange is occurring; theusers are not aware of a location of other individuals during theinformation exchange; and/or the users are not aware what information isbeing exchanged).

In the example above, the software program has authorization and/orprivacy settings that provide rules and restrictions with regard to thepersonal information (such as whether the personal information isencrypted, what electronic devices and/or individuals can access and/orview the personal information, where or how the personal information isstored, when the personal information is shared, when the personalinformation is deleted, etc.). For instance, these settings areactivated so that personal information about users exchanged betweenHPEDs is kept private and not shared with or disclosed to theindividuals. In other words, the HPEDs exchange personal informationwith each other about their users, but this information is not providedto the users themselves. For instance, a first HPED of a first userprovides personal information about the first user to a second HPED of asecond user. The second HPED of the second user also provides personalinformation about the second user to the first HPED. The first usercannot access, obtain, and/or read the personal information provided tothe first HPED by the second HPED. Likewise, the second user cannotaccess, obtain, and/or read the personal information provided to thesecond HPED by the first HPED. This personal information is restricted,and not available to the users themselves. An exchange of personalinformation occurs in order for the software program and/or HPEDs todetermine whether the first and second users have a common interest.Alternatively, personal information that is exchanged is available tothe users, but this information is not sufficient to identify the user.As yet another alternative, the personal information that is exchangedis available to the users.

In an example embodiment, if the first and second users lack a commoninterest, then the personal information is not provided to the users(for example, the personal information and/or transaction history isdeleted). Thus, the software program and/or HPEDs can interact with eachother and exchange personal information about their respective userswithout providing this personal information to the users themselves. Assuch, users can keep their location, identity, and personal informationprivate.

If the first and second users have a common interest, then these usersare notified and a determination is made as to whether they want to havetheir personal information and/or identities provided to the other user.For example, users may desire more information about each other in orderto meet each other in person, contact each other (such as texting eachother or telephoning each other), add each other to their respectivesocial networking webpages, locate each other while in the shoppingmall, view on displays of their HPEDs pictures and profile informationof each other, etc. Furthermore, users may elect to provide personalinformation but still maintain their true identity private.

Consider an example in which a user wants to obtain business contacts ofcardiologists that live in Ohio, specialize in interventionalcardiology, and have at least ten years of professional experience. Theelectronic device and/or user agent of the user searches the Internetfor doctors satisfying these criteria. Upon discovering a doctor thatsatisfies the criteria, the electronic device and/or user agent of theuser provides information about the doctor to the user (such asproviding contact information, business address, and a location of thedoctor).

Consider another example in which a user desires to contact individualsthat are translators specializing in translating documents from Chineselanguage into Thai language. While the user is traveling in Hong Kong,the HPED of the user broadcasts requests to HPEDs of other individualsalso located in Hong Kong. This request could include, for example, adescription of the desired specialty (such as “Seeking Chinese/ThaiTranslator”). An HPED of an individual residing in Hong Kong receivesthis broadcast, compares the request with information in theindividual's user profile, and determines a match or a common interest.The individual is fluent in both Chinese and Thai and has previouslytranslated documents between these two languages. The HPED of theindividual replies to the request of the HPED of the user, and these twoHPEDs exchange information. The HPED of the user determines a highlikelihood that the user will be interested in meeting or contactingthis individual and provides the user with contact information for thisindividual and information relating to the exchange between the twoHPEDs (such as the user agent sending a message to the user that statesas follows: “I found an individual residing in Hong Kong that hasexpertise in translating documents between Chinese and Thai. I spoke tothe user agent of this individual. Please click on the hyperlink belowto view a resume and contact information of this individual.”).

Consider another example in which the user is a single female thatrecently moved to New York City. She wants to meet new female friendsthat are 20-25 years old, Catholic, and live within 2 kilometers ofCentral Park. While she is exercising in Central Park, she carries aportable electronic device that uses a GPS service to locate otherportable electronic devices that are also currently in Central Park. Theelectronic device of the female contacts these other electronic devices,exchanges user profile information with these devices, and discoversanother female matching the criteria (such as another female carrying aportable electronic device and jogging in the park). The electronicdevice of the searching female and the electronic device of thediscovered female agree to present their respective owners/users with aproposal to meet. For example, the electronic device of the searchingfemale vibrates and displays the following message: “Found anothersingle female in Central Park. She is 22 years old, Catholic, likes toexercise, and is also new to the New York area. Do you want to meether?” If both parties agree to meet, then the electronic devices canexchange further information and arrange to meet (such as exchangingnames, phone numbers, GPS locations within the park, text messages,etc.).

Consider another example in which a user belongs to social networkingservice ABC, enjoys hang gliding, and likes to read French plays byMolière. A user agent for the user periodically searches profiles ofother members of ABC and discovers another user member that enjoys hanggliding and reading French literature. Based on this common interestbetween the user and the other member, the user agent of the user sendsa friend request to the other member. This friend request asks the othermember to join a circle of friends of the user. This friend request canbe sent with or without prior approval of the user. For example, if theuser has confidence in the accuracy of the user agent sending friendrequests, then the user can authorize the user agent to send requestswithout first receiving specific authorization for each subsequentrequest. As such, the user may not be aware that the user agent sent thefriend request until after the request is already sent (for example, theuser agent notifies the user that a friend request was sent, or the userlogs into the social networking service ABC and sees that the user agentpreviously sent the friend request).

Consider another example in which a user belongs to a social networkingservice (such as FACEBOOK). The user receives a friend request fromanother user in which this other user requests to be added to thenetworking webpage and social networking circle of the user. The user isnot aware of this request, but has previously authorized his user agentto analyze such requests and to grant or to deny such requests withoutfurther input from the user. As such, the user agent is authorized toact on behalf of the user without knowledge of or approval by the user.Upon receiving this request, the user agent of the user visits thesocial networking webpage of the requesting user and reviews the profileinformation of this user. Based on this review, the user agentdetermines that the user and the requesting user have sufficient commoninterest, and the user agent grants the friend request. The requestinguser is added to the list of friends of the user.

Consider an example in which a user carries an electronic device thatcontinually, continuously, or periodically searches for other electronicdevices within proximity of a radius of one kilometer. For instance,this electronic device broadcasts requests to communicate with otherelectronic devices. Alternatively, one or more other electronic devicesbroadcast the requests. Such requests can be sent directly from oneelectronic device to another device or sent indirectly from oneelectronic device to another electronic device (such as sending requeststhrough a cloud, satellite, server, or other computer). Upon discoveringother such electronic devices, the electronic device of the usersolicits employment opportunities for an individual having the educationand professional experience of the user. The electronic device assiststhe user in finding employment. For example, the electronic device ofthe user and an electronic device of another person begin to exchangeinformation relating to education and employment history. During thisinformation exchange, the electronic device of the user informs theelectronic device of the other person that the user has an expertise inresidential home remodeling and construction. The electronic device ofthe other person responds that the other person is interested inrenovating a bathroom. The electronic devices of the users notify theircorresponding users about the information exchange. For example, theelectronic device of the user displays the following message: “I found acustomer that is seeking to remodel a bathroom. The customer's name isPaul. Do you want more information about Paul and this remodeling job?”

In some example embodiments, the users are notified about the exchangeof their personal information after the exchange already occurred. Inother words, the users were not aware that their respective electronicdevices and/or user agents were exchanging personal information witheach other. Further, the users did not instruct their HPEDs to make theexchange. Thus, the users agents were acting on behalf of the users butwithout knowledge of and/or instruction from the users to take suchspecific action at that time. For example, HPEDs act on behalf of theusers since the users trusted the judgments and decisions of the HPEDs.After the exchange occurs, the HPED of the user sends the user a messagethat notifies the user of the exchange. As an example, the HPED sendsthe following message: “I just communicated with someone that I thinkyou would be interested in meeting. Enclosed is a picture of thisperson, location information, and contact information. I also providedthis person with your picture and contact information.” As anotherexample, a user agent for the user causes the following message toappear on a display of the HPED of the user: “I just added a new friendto your social network. Please activate the hyperlink below to see yournew friend.” Activation of the hyperlink automatically navigates theuser to a social networking page of the newly added friend.

FIG. 6 is a method to discover and add individuals to a social networkof a user.

According to block 600, a user interacts with an electronic device toselect another individual that is away from but within proximity of theuser. For example, the user selects an individual within a visualproximity or within a specified geographical distance of the user eventhough the individual cannot be scene.

The user can interact with the electronic device in different ways toselect another individual. These ways include, but are not limited to,taking a photograph of the other individual, searching for the otherindividual over the internet, telephoning the other individual, using apointing device to select the other individual, providing a physicaldescription of the other individual, using GPS to identify a location ofthe other individual, selecting individuals within a specifiedgeographical distance of the user (such as selecting individuals within10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters, 40 meters, . . . one-eighth of a mile,one quarter of a mile, etc.), and selecting individuals with a certainphysical appearance.

According to block 610, based on the selection of the user, theelectronic device and/or user agent of the user sends the electronicdevice and/or user agent of the selected individual a request toexchange personal information about the user and/or the selectedindividual. The electronic device of the user locates and communicateswith the electronic device of the selected individual. For example, auser agent of a first user asks a user agent of a second user whetherthe two user agents can exchange personal information about their userswith each other.

The electronic device of the selected individual can be physicallylocated on or with the selected individual. For example, the selectedindividual carries or has possession of a smartphone or tablet computer.Alternatively, the electronic device can be located remotely from theselected individual. For example, the selected individual is withinsight of the user, but the selected individual's electronic device isremotely located from the user.

According to block 620, a determination is made as to whether theelectronic device and/or user agent of the selected individual acceptsthe request to exchange personal information. This determination is madeby the selected individual, the electronic device, and/or the user agentof the selected individual. If the answer to this determination is “yes”then flow proceeds to block 630. If the answer to this determination is“no” then flow proceeds to block 640.

According to block 630, the electronic device and/or user agent of theuser and the electronic device and/or user agent of the selectedindividual exchange personal information. During this communication, theelectronic device and/or user agent of the user and the electronicdevice and/or user agent of the selected individual exchangeinformation, such as exchanging personal information, user profile dataand/or information discussed in connection with block 500 of FIG. 5. Forexample, user agents of the two individuals exchange user profile dataabout their respective users. As another example, the electronic deviceof the selected individual provides personal information about theselected individual to the electronic device of the user, and theelectronic device of the user provides personal information about theuser to the electronic device of the selected individual.

According to block 640, the electronic device and/or user agent of theuser and the electronic device and/or user agent of the selectedindividual do not exchange personal information.

Consider an example in which the user sees a group of other people thatare not known to the user. The user takes a picture of these people, andthis picture displays on the smartphone of the user. The user touchesthe display screen of the smartphone to select one of the individuals inthe picture. This selection identifies to the smartphone whichindividual the user selected among the other people. This selectedindividual also carries a smartphone. The smartphone of the usercontacts the smartphone of the selected individual and provides a friendrequest. This friend request asks whether the selected individual wantsto join or be included in a social network of the user. If theelectronic device of the selected individual accepts the friend request,then the selected individual is added as a friend to the social networkof the user. If the electronic device of the selected individual refusesthe friend request, then the selected individual is not added as afriend to the social network of the user. Alternatively, the smartphoneof the user sends the smartphone of the selected individual a request toexchange personal information (such as name, address, photographs,and/or phone number).

Consider an example in which a user carries an HPED. The user sees astranger and desires to communicate with this stranger, such as desiringto find out more information about this stranger. The user points theHPED toward the stranger in order to locate and identify the stranger tothe HPED. In response to this identification, the HPED attempts toand/or begins to communicate with an HPED that the stranger is carrying.The HPED of the stranger accepts the communication, and the two HPEDsexchange personal information about their respective users. Forinstance, the HPEDs exchange phone numbers and pictures of theirrespective users. The HPED of the user then sends a text to the HPED ofthe stranger (such as “Nice to meet you. Thanks for exchanging picturesand phone numbers with me.”).

Consider another example in which the user has an HPED that includes anelectronic pointing device (such as a device that transmits a laser,infrared, ultrasound, radio waves, etc.). The user transmits a wave orsignal on or near another person to identify a location of this otherperson to the HPED of the user. In response to this action, the HPED ofthe user transmits an electronic request to the electronic device of theother person. This request, for example, could say: “Hello, my name isJohn. Can I add you to my social network? Thank you.” The electronicdevice of the other person is authorized to act on behalf of thisperson. In response to this request, the electronic device of the otherperson responds to the request, such as saying: “Hi, my name is Anne.Yes, I will join your social network.” Thereafter, the two electronicdevices exchange further information, and the other person isautomatically added to the social network of the requesting user. Thetwo users were not aware of the transmissions, information exchanges,and/or addition of users to the social networks until after the usersare already added to the respective social networks of the other user.

Consider another example in which the user takes a video or photographof another person, and analysis of a face of the person determines anidentity of the person. Facial recognition software of the user assistsin identifying this other person. For instance, the face of theindividual in the photograph is analyzed and/or compared with facialimages in a database. A facial image search or reverse facial imagesearch can also be performed on the Internet to locate and determine anidentity of the person. This identify includes contact information ofthis person, such as a phone number, an Internet address, an emailaddress, a social network website location, a unique user identificationon an instant messaging platform (for example, WHATSAPP or KAKAOTALK),etc. A user agent of the user then contacts this person and/or a useragent of this person. This contact includes a request to exchangepersonal information between the user and the other person.

Consider another example in which the user sees a person with whom theuser would like to communicate. The user instructs the electronic deviceto use a wireless communication system or a broadcast communicationsystem to send a signal to the electronic device located with thisperson. The electronic device of this person begins to communicate withthe electronic device of the user. During this communication, theelectronic device of the user sends to the electronic device of thisperson a description of the professional profile of the user. Forexample, this professional profile includes the name and picture of theuser, occupation, and contact information (such as stating: “My name isJohn Smith. I am a doctor specializing in pediatric intensive care. Iwork at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Please visit my website for office hoursand more information.”). The message could also include a hyperlink tothe website and a picture of the user.

Consider an example in which electronic devices of the users includeand/or execute a software application that enables the electronicdevices to locate, identify, and communicate with each other. A user iswalking in a crowded mall and sees a person that the user would like tomeet. The user and the other person do not know each other, and theother person is not aware that the user wants to communicate. The userinstructs his electronic device to contact the electronic device of theother person. Since both the electronic device of the other person andthe electronic device of the user are running the software application,the electronic devices locate and communicate with each other. Theelectronic devices begin to exchange personal information about theirrespective users, and a determination is made by one or both of theelectronic devices that the users will not meet or further exchange morepersonal information. For example, the electronic device of the otherperson indicates that the other person is not interested in meeting theuser. In this example, the electronic device of the other person reviewsa calendar schedule and determines that the other person is too busy tomeet. Alternatively, the electronic device of the other persondetermines that there is insufficient common interest between the twopeople to warrant further information exchange. These determinations andtransactions can occur without knowledge of the other person or the usersince the electronic devices of both people are acting on behalf oftheir respective users. Alternatively, the users can be notified before,during, or after the communications between the two electronic devicescommences or ends.

Communication between the electronic devices of the users can beautomated and executed by user agents and/or other software programs andapplications. As such, users are not required to be involved in and/orhave knowledge of the information exchange and/or other blocks discussedin the methods herein. Instead, electronic devices, user agents,software programs, and/or software applications act on behalf of theirusers, and act in a manner consistent with authorization and/or privacysettings. These actions reduce the time and effort required for users toexchange information. As such, a user agent for a user can add andremove friends from a social networking webpage of the user, exchangepersonal information, exchange business contact information, searchand/or seek users with a common interest, and perform other tasksdiscussed herein. The user agent works and performs tasks on behalf ofthe user to increase a social network of the user. For instance, theuser agent can exchange user profile information with other user agentsand add new professional or social contacts to a social network of theuser.

FIG. 7 is a method to discover individuals with a common interest withinproximity of each other.

According to block 700, electronic devices and/or user agents of usersexchange with each other personal information about their respectiveusers. These electronic devices and/or user agents transmit and receivepersonal information about their respective users. For example, thisinformation includes, but is not limited to, user profile data,information discussed in connection with block 200, and/or factorsand/or information discussed in connection with block 500.

Consider an example in which in order to initiate an exchange ofpersonal information or communication with each other, the electronicdevices are within a predetermined distance from each other. Forexample, an exchange of information and/or communication occurs when theelectronic devices are within a certain distance of each other, such aswithin one hundred feet, five hundred feet, one-eighth of a mile, onequarter of a mile, etc. Each user selects a distance, such as a userinstructing his electronic device to communicate with other electronicdevices within one hundred meters of the user. Alternatively, thedistance can be set by another person or party, such as being set by amanufacturer, merchant, communication provider, third party, other user,etc.

According to block 710, the electronic devices and/or user agentsdetermine whether the users have a common interest. The electronicdevices and/or user agents provide each other with personal informationabout their users to discover whether the users have common interestswith each other.

In an example embodiment, the electronic devices and/or user agentsexchange personal information about their users but maintain anonymityduring the information exchange. As such, even though personalinformation is being exchanged between the electronic devices, anidentity of a user and/or personal information sufficient to identify auser is not provided. Thus, the identity of the users remains privateduring information exchange. By way of example, the personal informationbeing exchanged would not include one or more of a real first and lastname of the user, a home or business address of the user, a telephonenumber of the user, a location of the user, a website of a user, and/ora picture of the user. Personal information can still be exchanged whilekeeping an identity of the user confidential and/or secure. By way ofexample, the personal information about the users being exchanged couldinclude one or more of age, gender, marital status, common interests,physical description (such as height, weight, color of eyes and hair,etc.), religion, username, first name, occupation, education, ethnicity,hobbies, sports, interests or reasons in meeting other people, likes anddislikes, etc.

In an example embodiment, the identity of the users remains privateduring information exchange until an event occurs. Such events include,but are not limited to, one and/or both of the users agreeing todisclose sufficient personal information to identify themselves, oneand/or both of the user agents of the users agreeing to disclosesufficient personal information to identify their respective users, oneand/or both of the electronic devices of the users agreeing to disclosesufficient personal information to identify their respective users, oneand/or both of the users determining that a common interest existsbetween the users, one and/or both of the user agents of the usersdetermining that a common interest exists between the users, and/or oneand/or both of the electronic devices of the users determining that acommon interest exists between the users.

Consider an example in which two electronic devices are exchangingpersonal information with each other about their respective users. Theseelectronic devices exchange employment history, educational information,and other information relating to the professional expertise of theusers. The identity of each user, however, is not disclosed ordiscernable since their identities are private and/or confidential. Assuch, the electronic devices and/or users do not know enough informationto identify the other user. Furthermore, during this informationexchange, the users are not informed that the two electronic devices areexchanging information. Further yet, the electronic devices exchangeinformation without explicit instructions by their respective users tomake the information exchange. Alternatively, the users are informed ofthe information exchange and/or provide instructions to make theinformation exchange.

According to block 720, electronic devices and/or user agents notifytheir respective users when another individual is discovered with acommon interest with the user. When an electronic device and/or useragent of a user discovers another individual having common interest withthe user, the electronic device and/or user agent notifies the user. Forexample, the notice is displayed to the user on a display of anelectronic device, stored in memory, and/or transmitted over a networkto the user and/or an electronic device.

Consider an example in which an electronic device of a user attempts tofind other individuals with a specified common interest with the user.This electronic device communicates and exchanges information with otherelectronic devices that are within a radius of two miles. When theelectronic device discovers another electronic device and correspondingindividual, the electronic device notifies the user of this discovery.For example, the electronic device vibrates and displays a message aboutthis discovery to the user.

According to block 730, a determination is made as to whether bothindividuals accept to meet and/or exchange personal information thatidentifies the individuals. This determination can be made by the users,the electronic devices, and/or user agents of the users. If the answerto this determination is “yes” flow proceeds to block 740. If the answerto this determination is “no” flow proceeds back to block 700.

According to block 740, both individuals are provided with locatinginformation and/or personal information that identifies the individuals.

The locating information can include a physical location of where theindividual is currently located or where the individual will be locatedat a future time. Examples of such information include, but are notlimited to, a GPS coordinate location, a description of the location(such as “located across the street in the coffee shop”), an address, aproximity (such as “located fifty feet to the East of you”), a displayindication on a map (such as providing a map with a marker or blinkingicon that shows the location of the person on a map), etc.

The personal information that identifies the individuals can includeinformation specific enough to identify and/or contact the otherindividual. Examples of this information include, but are not limitedto, a real name of the person, a picture of the person, a home orbusiness address of the person, a telephone number of the person, anemail address of the person, and/or a hyperlink to a website of theperson (such as a hyperlink to a social networking webpage of theperson).

In an example embodiment, the information to locate the user and toidentify the user are not disclosed to the other individual until theuser, the user agent of the user, and/or the electronic device of theuser authorizes disclosing the information to locate the user and toidentify the user. Likewise, the information to locate the otherindividual and to identify the other individual are not disclosed to theuser until the other individual, the user agent of the other individual,and/or the electronic device of the other individual authorizesdisclosing the information to locate the other individual and toidentify the other individual.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, 9A, and 9B show electronic devices of two users thatdiscover and/or communicate each other. The users have a commoninterest, and their respective electronic devices show the commoninterest on the respective displays. For discussion, the users aredesignated as first user and second user with FIGS. 8A and 8B being theelectronic device 800 of the first user and FIGS. 9A and 9B being theelectronic device 900 of the second user.

FIG. 8A is the electronic device 800 of the first user with a display810 that shows a common interest 820 between the first user and thesecond user. The display 810 shows a message 830 (“New Contact Alert”)that notifies the first user that an individual (i.e., the second user)with a common interest has been discovered. The common interest 820 withthe second user is displayed to the first user. By way of illustration,this common interest shows that the second user is a cardiologist andattended medical school at Case Western Reserve University from1995-1999. The name of the second user is private (i.e., not currentlybeing disclosed to the first user).

FIG. 9A is the electronic device 900 of the second user with a display910 that shows a common interest 920 between the second user and thefirst user. The display 910 shows a message 930 (“New Contact Alert”)that notifies second user that an individual (i.e., the first user) witha common interest has been discovered. The common interest 920 with thefirst user is displayed to the second user. By way of illustration, thiscommon interest shows that the first user is a doctor that specializesin internal medicine and attended medical school at Case Western ReserveUniversity from 1998-2002. The name of the first user is private (i.e.,not currently being disclosed to the second user).

The electronic devices 800 and 900 provide the first and second userswith options on how to proceed with each other. Example options include,but are not limited to, enabling the users to ignore the discoveredindividual, to add the discovered individual to a social network of theuser, to decline the discovered individual and/or to decline furtherinformation exchange with this discovered individual, to accept thediscovered individual and/or accept further information exchange withthis discovered individual, to accept to meet the discovered individual,to decline to meet the discovered individual, to accept to exchange morepersonal information with the discovered individual (such as personalinformation that identifies a true name of the user, a phone number ofthe user, a location of the user, an address of the user, a picture ofthe user, etc.), to delete the discovered individual, etc.

By way of illustration, FIG. 8A shows the first user being provided withoptions to add the second user to a social network of the first user 840(“Add to Social Network”), to decline the second user to the socialnetwork of the first user 850 (“Decline to Social Network”), to acceptto meet the second user 860 (“Accept to Meet”), and to decline to meetthe second 870 (“Decline to Meet”).

By way of illustration, FIG. 9A shows the second user being providedwith options to add the first user to a social network of the seconduser 940 (“Add to Social Network”), to decline the first user to thesocial network of the second user 950 (“Decline to Social Network”), toaccept to meet the first user 960 (“Accept to Meet”), and to decline tomeet the first 970 (“Decline to Meet”).

FIG. 8B is the electronic device 800 with the display 810 that shows tothe first user identifying and locating information of the second user.For example, this display appears when the first user activates box 860in FIG. 8A. The electronic device of FIG. 8B displays personalinformation that identifies the second user as the individual 880 (shownas “Name: John Smith”). This personal information that identifies thesecond user also includes a photograph 885 of the second user. Thedisplay 810 also includes locating information 890 that provides alocation of the second user (shown as “Location: 30 yards away inparking lot”). The display 810 further includes a contact area 895 thatenables the first user to contact the second user (such as enabling thefirst user to telephone the second user or send the second user a textmessage).

FIG. 9B is the electronic device 900 with the display 910 that shows tothe second user identifying and locating information of the first user.For example, this display appears when the second user activates box 960in FIG. 9A. The electronic device of FIG. 9B displays personalinformation that identifies the first user as the individual 980 (shownas “Name: Paul Rogers”). This personal information that identifies thefirst user also includes a photograph 985 of the first user. The display910 also includes locating information 990 that provides a location ofthe first user (shown as “Location: 30 yards from you in coffee shop”).The display 910 further includes a contact area 995 that enables thesecond user to contact the first user (such enabling the second user totelephone the first user or send the first user a text message).

In an example embodiment, interests between users are compared todetermine when the users have a common interest. For example, interestsamong users are compared to determine which interests match, whichinterests are similar, and/or which interests are common. A user, anelectronic device of the user, and/or a user agent of the user candetermine which interests are compared, which interests are notcompared, a priority or hierarchy for interests, how interests betweenusers are compared, when interests are deemed common, etc.

FIG. 10 is a method to obtain information about an individual for auser.

According to block 1000, a decision is made to obtain information aboutan individual for a user. This decision can be made by a user, anelectronic device, and/or a user agent of the user.

According to block 1010, an electronic device and/or a user agent of theuser communicates with an electronic device and/or a user agent of theindividual in order to obtain the information.

According to block 1020, the electronic device and/or the user agent ofthe user provides the information to the user. For example, theinformation is displayed to the user on a display of an electronicdevice, stored in memory, and/or transmitted over a network to the userand/or an electronic device.

Consider an example in which a user desires to obtain location, homeaddress, and cellular phone information about an individual who is amember or friend on a social networking website of the user. The userinstructs or requests his electronic device to obtain this information.The electronic device searches the social networking website andperforms an Internet search for this requested information, but it isnot available from these sources. So, the electronic device contacts ahandheld portable electronic device (HPED) of the individual. The HPEDof the individual and the electronic device of the user exchangeinformation with each other. The electronic device of the user thenpresents the requested information to the user.

Consider an example in which a user agent of a user determines that theuser has not communicated with a previous business associate for morethan one month. The user agent decides to locate this business associateand provide an update to the user. This decision to obtain and providethe update is made without knowledge of and without a specific requestfrom the user. The user agent navigates to a website of the businessassociate, obtains contact information for a user agent of this businessassociate, and then contacts and communicates with the user agent ofthis business associate. During the communication, the two user agentsexchange updated profile information about their respective users. Basedon this communication, the user agent of the user updates contactinformation that the user has for the business associate. The user agentalso provides the user with an update. For example, the user agentdisplays a message on the HPED of the user: “I thought you might want anupdate on your previous business associate John Smith. John is doinggreat. He is currently in Hong Kong working on a television commercial.I updated your electronic address book with his new contactinformation.”

Consider an example in which a user requests his electronic device tofind out what a childhood friend named Rom is doing. For example, theuser speaks the following command to his electronic device: “Pleasecontact Rom and find out how he is doing.” In response to this request,the electronic device searches the social networking webpage of theuser, identifies Rom and his last name, finds a cellular phone numberfor Rom, and sends Rom a text message. After Rom and the user agentexchange several text messages, the user agent provides the user with anupdate based on the information obtained in the text messages. Forexample, the user agent provides the user with an email that states: “Icontacted Rom as you requested. He is doing great. He recently went on atrip with his family to the Philippines: enclosed is a link to somepictures. He is still working as a freelance photographer, and iscurrently in Hong Kong on a photo shoot. I also sent him some picturesof you surfing in Indonesia.”

Consider an example in which a software application of a user isinstructed to periodically or continually provide updates to anelectronic business contact list of the user. The software applicationobtains a list of business contacts for the user and then crawls and/orsearches the Internet for each of these business contacts. Informationobtained in the Internet searches is compared with information storedfor each business contact in order to update the records of the businesscontacts for the user. Updated contact information is thus availablewhen a user desires to contact on these business contacts.

FIG. 11 is a method to create and/or gather information about a user andact upon this information.

According to block 1100, an electronic device and/or user agent of auser creates and/or gathers information about the user. Information isobtained from sources that include, but are not limited to, one or morenetworks (such as the Internet), electronic devices, memory and/orstorage devices, individuals, and/or the user. Examples of informationinclude, but are not limited to, one or more of physical activities of auser, geographical locations of a user (such as past locations visited,a current location, or an intended future location), interactionsbetween a user and a user interface (UI) and/or a graphical userinterface (GUI), photographs and/or videos, user preferences, userprofile information, spoken and/or typed words, examples of informationdiscussed in connection with block 200, and/or factors and/orinformation discussed in connection with block 500.

The electronic device and/or user agent can gather existing informationabout the user. Consider an example in which an electronic device of auser locates and retrieves photographs stored in memory.

Consider another example in which a user schedules a routine physicalcheckup with a doctor and logs an appointment for the checkup in anevent calendar. After the appointment, the user agent of the userqueries the user and asks if everything is okay. The user speaks aresponse as follows: “Checkup went great. Everything is okay. I'mhealthy.” The user agent then posts or provides on the Internetinformation about the doctor visit (such as posting on the socialnetwork of the user as follows: “Just had a routine doctor's visit. Docsays I'm doing great and healthy.”).

In addition to gathering information, the electronic device and/or useragent can create information and/or events about or associated with theuser. This information may not have previously existed. As such, theelectronic device and/or user agent can generate or produce theinformation. Actions of the electronic device and/or user agent thuscause information and/or an event to be created. But for the action ofthe electronic device and/or user agent, the information and/or eventwould not have been created and/or would not exist. Some examples areprovided below.

Consider an example in which a user agent searches a photographiclibrary and determines that an updated or current picture of the userdoes not exist. In response to this determination, the user agent turnson and/or activating a camera of a portable electronic device andinstructs the camera to take some pictures of the user. The user agentupdates the photographic library with the pictures, selects a favoritepictures, transmits the favorite pictures to the father of the user, andposts the favorite picture to a social networking website of the user.The user agent performed these actions without knowledge of the userand/or without instruction from the user to perform such actions.Actions of the user agent created these pictures that did not previouslyexist. In other words, the user agent did not retrieve existing picturesfrom memory, but caused a camera in an electronic device to generate thepictures.

Consider another example in which a user is working from his notebookcomputer. The user agent asks the user if he wants to take a short breakfrom working, and the user affirms that he does. Without a request orcommand from the user, the user agent retrieves some videos of the userwhen he was a young boy and plays these videos to the user on a displayof the notebook computer. While the user is watching the videos, theuser agent activates a camera of the notebook computer and capturesvideo of the user laughing at the videos playing on the computer.Actions of the user agent caused or assisted in causing the user tolaugh, and as such, the user agent was able to create new video of theuser laughing.

Consider another example in which a user agent of a user contacts afamily member or friend of the user. The user agent initiates aconversation with this family member or friend, and in the process ofhaving this conversation generates new information about the user and/orgenerates a new event for the user. For example, text messaging or voiceexchange occurs between the user agent and the user's mother. Duringthis conversation, the user agent informs the mother that her son (i.e.,the user) has been working long hours and may not be feeling well. Theuser agent derives this conclusion from observations of the user andinformation collected (such as information from a conversation betweenthe user and a friend, observations of the user, tracking of the user'sworking hours, medicine that the user orders online, visit with adoctor, etc.). The mother instructs the user agent to schedule a lunchdate tomorrow between her and her son in the event calendar of her son.The conversation between the user agent and the mother caused the motherto schedule the lunch appointment with her son. But for the actions ofthe user agent in this conversation, the mother would not have scheduledthe appointment and had lunch with her son the next day. Furthermore,the actions of the user agent contacting the family member,communicating with the family member, and scheduling the appointmentoccur without knowledge of the user and without instruction from theuser to perform such tasks.

Consider another example in which a user agent of a user retrieves froman electronic device of the user a GPS location of the user as being ata restaurant. The user agent reviews the privacy settings for the userand determines that locations of the user are restricted and heldconfidential. The user receives a text from a business associate, andthe text asks what the user is doing and where the user is located. Auser agent for the user reviews the text message and responds on behalfof the user stating, for example, as follows: “I'm out getting a bite toeat.” A location of the user is not disclosed since this information isrestricted. The user was not involved in the decision process ofreviewing the text message and creating a response to this message sincethe user agent acts on behalf of the user to conduct these acts.

According to block 1110, the electronic device and/or user agent of theuser determines authorization for information. This determinationincludes, but is not limited to, determining whether the information ispublic and/or private, what permissions and/or restrictions are placedwith the information, where the information can be stored, whether theinformation is stored in a protective manner (such as being encrypted orpassword protected), who has access to view and/or retrieve theinformation, how long the information is stored and/or available,whether the information is saved or deleted, whether the information istransmitted, whether the information is shared with other humans and/orother user agents and/or other electronic devices (such as sharing theinformation with a user agent of another person other than the user),and whether or how the information is altered (such as altering aphotograph to improve its visual quality).

According to block 1120, based on the determination of authorization,the electronic device and/or user agent acts on the information aboutthe user. Such acts include, but are not limited to, posting theinformation to the internet and/or a website, sharing the informationwith other users or other electronic devices or other user agents,electronically transmitting the information, storing the information inmemory, deleting the information from memory, modifying the information,processing the information, emailing the information, texting theinformation, analyzing the information, and/or saving the information.

Consider an example in which a camera of a user captures a series ofpictures of the user with his dog. The user previously indicated thatpictures of the user and his dog have no privacy restrictions and areavailable to share with other users. A user agent of another user takessome pictures of the user with his dog and then sends these pictures tothe user agent of the user. The user agent of the user analyzes thepictures, chooses a favorite or best picture, and posts this picture toa social network of the user with a caption as follows: “Me and my bestfriend.” The user was not involved in the decision process of taking thepictures, choosing a picture, deciding to post the picture, composingthe message, and posting the picture with a caption since the user agentacts on behalf of the user to conduct these acts.

Consider another example in which a user agent of a user queries useragents of friends of the user. For instance, the user agent of the userasks the other user agents if they know the location of the user. A useragent of a friend of the user determines that the user and the friendare in a business meeting at a hotel and provides this information tothe user agent of the user. The user agent of the user verifies thatthis information is authorized to be public. Based on this information,the user agent of the user updates a status of the user on a website(such as posting “in a meeting” on a website of the user that providesupdates about business activities and current locations of the user).

A user, an electronic device of the user, user, and/or a user agent ofthe user can determine authorization settings for information, such asdetermining what information is private and/or restricted. For example,information deemed private is not disseminated or disclosed to anyone,disseminated or disclosed to selected individuals, not disseminated ordisclosed to the public, etc.

Consider an example in which a machine learning user agent observesrestrictions on information that a user places over a period of time.Based on these observations, the user agent develops and createsauthorization settings for new pieces of information for which the userhas not yet designated an authorization setting.

FIG. 12 is an electronic device 1200 with a display 1210 that showsexamples of some common interest settings 1220. Checking or marking abox indicates an interest and/or information that will be exchanged,compared, and/or searched with other users, other electronic devices,and/or other user agents.

Consider an example in which the desired interests are occupation of“doctor” and gender of “male.” During a subsequent search and/orcommunication with another electronic device, a common interest matchcan occur when the discovered individual has an occupation of a doctorand/or his gender is a male.

FIG. 13 is an electronic device 1300 with a display 1310 that showsexamples of some privacy and/or authorization settings 1320. Checking ormarking a box activates or enables a privacy setting.

Consider an example in which the privacy settings of location and phonenumber are selected to “never.” During a subsequent search and/orcommunication with another electronic device, these activated privacysettings are applied such that the location and phone number of the userare not provided.

Determinations by the electronic device and/or the user agent can bemodeled as a prediction that the user with take an action. For example,an analysis of historic events, personal information, geographiclocation, and/or the user profile provides a probability and/orlikelihood that the user will take an action (such as determining whichfields and/or entries to populate, selecting which data to populate afield and/or entry, determining which alternative data to present to auser, determining which personal information to exchange with anotherelectronic device and/or user agent, determining common interestsbetween a user and another individual, selecting individuals with whomto communicate, determining authorization and/or privacy settings,determining what information to disseminate on behalf of a user,determining how to execute blocks in methods discussed herein). By wayof example, one or more predictive models are used to predict theprobability that a user would take, determine, or desire the action. Thepredictive models can use one or more classifiers to determine thisprobability. Example models and/or classifiers include, but are notlimited to, a Naive Bayes classifier (including classifiers that applyBayes' theorem), k-nearest neighbor algorithm (k-NN, includingclassifying objects based on a closeness to training examples in featurespace), statistics (including the collection, organization, and analysisof data), support vector machine (SVM, including supervised learningmodels that analyze data and recognize patterns in data), data mining(including discovery of patterns in datasets), artificial intelligence(including systems that use intelligent agents to perceive environmentsand take action based on the perceptions), machine learning (includingsystems that learn from data), pattern recognition (includingclassification, regression, sequence labeling, speech tagging, andparsing), knowledge discovery (including the creation and analysis ofdata from databases and unstructured data sources), logistic regression(including generation of predictions using continuous and/or discretevariables), group method of data handling (GMDH, including inductivealgorithms that model multi-parameter data) and uplift modeling(including analyzing and modeling changes in probability due to anaction, such as an action on a consumer).

FIG. 14 is an electronic device 1400 with a display 1410 that showsfields and/or entries 1420 of a social networking webpage 1430. Thesocial networking webpage 1430 can include a variety of different fieldsand/or entries, such as those discussed in connection with FIGS. 2, 3,and 4. Further, such fields and/or entries can simultaneously appear ona single webpage, appear on multiple webpages, or not appear on awebpage. For illustration, social networking webpage 1430 includesfields and/or entries of pictures 1440 (such as pictures of the user,user's family, user's friends, etc.), videos 1445 (such as videos of theuser, user's family, user's friends, etc.), demographic information 1450about the user, professional information 1455 about the user, personalinterests 1460 of the user, communicating with other members of thesocial network 1465 (such as texting, chatting, calling, etc.), andcommunicating with third party applications 1470.

FIG. 15 is an electronic device 1500 in accordance with an exampleembodiment. The electronic device includes components of computerreadable medium (CRM) or memory 1510, a display 1520, a processing unit1530, a user predictor and/or user intention determiner 1540, a userprofile 1550, a network interface 1560, a user agent 1570, a userprofile builder 1580, and one or more buses or communication paths 1590.FIG. 15 shows these components in a single electronic device.Alternatively, one or more of these components can be distributed orincluded in various electronic devices, such as some components beingincluded in an HPED, some components being included in a server, somecomponents being included in storage accessible over the Internet,components being in various different electronic devices that are spreadacross a network, etc.

The processor unit 1530 includes a processor (such as a centralprocessing unit, CPU, microprocessor, application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), etc.) for controlling the overall operation of memory1510 (such as random access memory (RAM) for temporary data storage,read only memory (ROM) for permanent data storage, and firmware). Theprocessing unit 1530 communicates with memory 1510 and performsoperations and tasks that implement one or more blocks of the flowdiagrams discussed herein. The memory 1510, for example, storesapplications, data, programs, algorithms (including software toimplement or assist in implementing example embodiments) and other data.

The network interface 1560 provides a mechanism for the electricaldevice 1500 to communicate with other electrical devices, computers, orsystems. For example, the network interface 1560 enables the electricaldevice to transmit data through a wired or wireless connection to anetwork, such as the Internet and/or a cellular network.

Blocks and/or methods discussed herein can be performed by computers,computer systems, electronic devices, and/or user agents withoutknowledge of the user and/or without instruction from the user. Examplesare provided herein. Consider an additional example in which a user iswithout knowledge of when an action occurs but has provided instructionfor the action. For instance, a user instructs his user agent to findanother user with a special professional background and expertise andthen to send a friend request to this individual when the individual islocated. One day later, while the user is asleep, the user agent locatesthe individual and sends the friend request. The user did not havespecific knowledge of the user agent locating the individual and sendingthe request but had previously provided instruction to the user agent toperform these specific tasks. Consider an example in which the user hasknowledge of an action but did not instruct the action. For instance, athird party (not the user) instructs an HPED of the user to turn on acamera of the HPED and take a picture. Right before the HPED turns onthe camera to take a picture, the HPED displays a message as follows: “Iam turning on the camera to take a picture.” The user views this messageand has knowledge of the action of the HPED taking a picture, but didnot provide the HPED with the instruction to perform the action.Consider an example in which a user agent of a user performs an actionwithout the user having knowledge of the action and without the userproviding the user agent with instruction to perform the action. Forinstance, a tablet computer of a user has a privacy setting indicatingthat the tablet computer can post a geographical location of the user toa social networking webpage of the user. While the user is having dinnerat the Eiffel Tower, the tablet computer determines the location of theuser, the activity of the user, and posts the following message:“Sitting on top of the world at the Eiffel Tower enjoying dinner.” Theuser is not aware that the tablet computer made this post and did notexplicitly instruct the tablet computer to make the post.

As used herein, a “common interest” is an interest, feature, activity,and/or attribute that is shared by and/or belongs to two or more peopleor entities.

As used herein, “create” means to produce, to be the cause of, or tobring about by a course of action.

As used herein, a “field” is an area and/or space into which a type ofinformation is stored and/or recorded. By way of example, a field is arecord in a database (such as in a relational database), a data variablethat is encapsulated in a class or object (such as in object-orientedprogramming), or a space that depicts a photograph (such as a photofield on a social networking website). For instance, a field could be a“username” field that holds the username for a user. Alternatively, afield could be a location on a website that portrays a photograph of auser.

As used herein, “gather” means to collect and/or assemble.

As used herein, the term “information” includes communication and/orreception of knowledge and/or intelligence, and knowledge obtained frominvestigation, study, and/or instruction. Information also includesdata, such as information in numerical form that can be digitallytransmitted and/or processed. Thus, information includes raw data andunorganized facts that can be processed, and also includes processed,organized, and structured, such as data being processed and presented ina useful context.

As used herein, a “social network” is a social structure in which userscommunicate with each other over a network with electronic devices. Thesocial network facilitates the building of social relations among userswho share backgrounds, familial relations, business relations,interests, and/or connections. The social network includes one or moreof representations and/or information about the users (such as userprofiles, photos, videos, etc.) and a platform (such as a web-basedplatform) that allows the users to communicate with each other over oneor more network (such as using email and/or instant messages over theInternet) and/or share information with other users in the socialnetwork.

As used herein, a “user” is a human being, a person.

As used herein, a “user agent” is software that acts on behalf of auser. User agents include, but are not limited to, one or more ofintelligent agents (agents that use learning, reasoning and/orartificial intelligence), multi-agent systems (plural agents thatcommunicate with each other), mobile agents (agents that move executionto different processors), autonomous agents (agents that modifyprocesses to achieve an objective), and distributed agents (agents thatexecute on physically distinct electronic devices).

As used herein, a “user profile” is personal data that represents anidentity of a specific person or organization. The user profile includesinformation pertaining to the characteristics and/or preferences of theuser. Examples of this information for a person include, but are notlimited to, one or more of personal data of the user (such as age,gender, race, ethnicity, religion, hobbies, interests, income,employment, education, etc.), photographs (such as photos of the user,family, friends, and/or colleagues), videos (such as videos of the user,family, friends, and/or colleagues), and user-specific data that definesthe user's interaction with and/or content on an electronic device (suchas display settings, application settings, network settings, storedfiles, downloads/uploads, browser activity, software applications, userinterface or GUI activities, and/or privileges).

In some example embodiments, the methods illustrated herein and data andinstructions associated therewith are stored in respective storagedevices, which are implemented as computer-readable and/ormachine-readable storage media, physical or tangible media, and/ornon-transitory storage media. These storage media include differentforms of memory including semiconductor memory devices such as DRAM, orSRAM, Erasable and Programmable Read-Only Memories (EPROMs),Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read-Only Memories (EEPROMs) andflash memories; magnetic disks such as fixed, floppy and removabledisks; other magnetic media including tape; optical media such asCompact Disks (CDs) or Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs). Note that theinstructions of the software discussed above can be provided oncomputer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, or alternatively,can be provided on multiple computer-readable or machine-readablestorage media distributed in a large system having possibly pluralnodes. Such computer-readable or machine-readable medium or media is(are) considered to be part of an article (or article of manufacture).An article or article of manufacture can refer to any manufacturedsingle component or multiple components.

Method blocks discussed herein can be automated and executed by acomputer, computer system, user agent, and/or electronic device. Theterm “automated” means controlled operation of an apparatus, system,and/or process using computers and/or mechanical/electrical deviceswithout the necessity of human intervention, observation, effort, and/ordecision.

The methods in accordance with example embodiments are provided asexamples, and examples from one method should not be construed to limitexamples from another method. Further, methods discussed withindifferent figures can be added to or exchanged with methods in otherfigures. Further yet, specific numerical data values (such as specificquantities, numbers, categories, etc.) or other specific informationshould be interpreted as illustrative for discussing exampleembodiments. Such specific information is not provided to limit exampleembodiments.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method executed by user agents executing onsmartphones that exchange personal information about two people todetermine whether common interests exist between the two people withoutdisclosing the personal information to the two people when no commoninterests exist, the method comprising: receiving, at a first smartphoneand from a first person, a selection of a second person with a secondsmartphone that is within a proximity of one hundred feet of the firstperson; transmitting, in response to receiving the selection and by afirst user agent executing on the first smartphone, a request to asecond user agent executing on the second smartphone to exchangepersonal information about the first person and personal informationabout the second person between the first and second user agents;determining, by the second user agent and on behalf of the second user,whether to deny the request; determining, by the second user agent andon behalf of the second user, whether to accept the request;transmitting, by the second smartphone and in response to the seconduser agent accepting the request, the personal information about thesecond person to the first user agent; transmitting, by the firstsmartphone and in response to the second user agent accepting therequest, the personal information about the first person to the seconduser agent; analyzing, by the second user agent, the personalinformation about the first person received from the first user agent todetermine if a common interest exists between the first person and thesecond person without disclosing the personal information received fromthe first user agent to the second person; analyzing, by the first useragent, the personal information about the second person received fromthe second user agent to determine if the common interest exists betweenthe first person and the second person without disclosing the personalinformation received from the second user agent to the first person;maintaining, by the second user agent, the personal information aboutthe first person received from the first user agent private and notdisclosing the personal information about the first person received fromthe first user agent to the second person when the first and second useragents determine that the common interest does not exist between thefirst person and the second person; maintaining, by the first useragent, the personal information about the second person received fromthe second user agent private and not disclosing the personalinformation about the second person received from the second user agentto the first person when the first and second user agents determine thatthe common interest does not exist between the first person and thesecond person; disclosing, by the second user agent and to the secondperson, the personal information about the first person received fromthe first user agent when the first and second user agents determinethat the common interest exists between the first person and the secondperson; and disclosing, by the first user agent and to the first person,the personal information about the second person received from thesecond user agent when the first and second user agents determine thatthe common interest exists between the first person and the secondperson.
 22. The method of claim 21 further comprising: displaying, bythe second user agent and to the second person on a display of thesecond smartphone, the personal information about the first personreceived from the first user agent when the first and second user agentsdetermine that the common interest exists between the first person andthe second person; and displaying, by the first user agent and to thefirst person on a display of the first smartphone, the personalinformation about the second person received from the second user agentwhen the first and second user agents determine that the common interestexists between the first person and the second person.
 23. The method ofclaim 21 further comprising: adding, by the second user agent andwithout knowledge of the second person, the first person as a friend tothe second person on a social networking webpage of the second personwhen the first and second user agents determine that the common interestexists between the first person and the second person; informing, by thesecond user agent, the second person that the first person was added tothe social networking webpage of the second person after the firstperson was already added to the social networking webpage of the secondperson; adding, by the first user agent and without knowledge of thefirst person, the second person as a friend to the first person on asocial networking webpage of the first person when the first and seconduser agents determine that the common interest exists between the firstperson and the second person; and informing, by the first user agent,the first person that the second person was added to the socialnetworking webpage of the first person after the second person wasalready added to the social networking webpage of the first person. 24.The method of claim 21 further comprising: disclosing, by the seconduser agent and to the second person on a display on the secondsmartphone, a location of the first person on a map in response to thefirst and second user agents determining that the common interest existsbetween the first person and the second person; and disclosing, by thefirst user agent and to the first person on a display on the firstsmartphone, a location of the second person on a map in response to thefirst and second user agents determining that the common interest existsbetween the first person and the second person.
 25. The method of claim21 further comprising: deleting, by the second user agent, the personalinformation received from the first user agent about the first person inresponse to the first and second user agents determining that the commoninterest does not exist between the first person and the second person;and deleting, by the first user agent, the personal information receivedfrom the second user agent about the second person in response to thefirst and second user agents determining that the common interest doesnot exist between the first person and the second person.
 26. The methodof claim 21 further comprising: receiving, by the first user agent andfrom the second user agent, a location and an identity of the secondperson; maintaining, by the first user agent, the location and theidentity of the second person private and not disclosing the locationand the identity of the second person to the first person when the firstand second user agents determine that the common interest does not existbetween the first person and the second person; receiving, by the seconduser agent and from the first user agent, a location and an identity ofthe first person; and maintaining, by the second user agent, thelocation and the identity of the first person private and not disclosingthe location and the identity of the first person to the second personwhen the first and second user agents determine that the common interestdoes not exist between the first person and the second person.
 27. Themethod of claim 21 further comprising: transmitting, from the first useragent and to the second user agent, a friend request for the secondperson to join a social networking webpage of the first person;analyzing, by the second user agent, profile information of the firstperson posted at the social networking webpage of the first person;deciding, based the analyzing of the profile information by the seconduser agent and without knowledge of the second person, to join thesecond person to the social networking webpage of the first person; andinforming, by the second user agent and after the second user agentalready joined the social networking webpage of the first person, thesecond person that the second user agent joined the second person to thesocial networking webpage of the first person.
 28. The method of claim21 further comprising: broadcasting, by the first user agent and toother user agents within the proximity of one hundred feet, requeststhat include a description of an expertise in services that the firstperson desires to hire in a person.
 29. A method executed by user agentsexecuting on hand held portable electronic devices (HPEDs) that exchangeprivate information about two people to determine whether commoninterests exist between the two people without disclosing the privateinformation to the two people when no common interests exist, the methodcomprising: locating, with a first HPED of a first person, a second HPEDof a second person that is within a proximity of one hundred feet of thefirst person; sending, by the first HPED and to the second HPED, arequest to exchange private information about the first person andprivate information about the second person to determine if the firstand second persons have a common interest with each other; sending, by auser agent executing on the second HPED and in response to the request,the private information about the second person to a user agentexecuting on the first HPED; sending, by the user agent executing on thefirst HPED, the private information about the first person to the useragent executing on the second HPED; analyzing, by the user agentexecuting on the second HPED, the private information about the firstperson received from the user agent executing on the first HPED todetermine if the common interest exists between the first person and thesecond person without disclosing to the second person the privateinformation received from the user agent executing on the first HPED;analyzing, by the user agent executing on the first HPED, the privateinformation about the second person received from the user agentexecuting on the second HPED to determine if the common interest existsbetween the first person and the second person without disclosing to thefirst person the private information received from the user agentexecuting on the second HPED; keeping, by the user agent executing onthe second HPED, the private information about the first person receivedfrom the user agent executing on the first HPED restricted and notsharing with the second person the private information about the firstperson received from the user agent executing on the first HPED when theuser agent executing on the first HPED and the user agent executing onthe second HPED determine that the common interest does not existbetween the first person and the second person such that the secondperson cannot access the private information about the first personreceived from the user agent executing on the first HPED; keeping, bythe user agent executing on the first HPED, the private informationabout the second person received from the user agent executing on thesecond HPED restricted and not sharing with the first person the privateinformation about the second person received from the user agentexecuting on the second HPED when the user agent executing on the firstHPED and the user agent executing on the second HPED determine that thecommon interest does not exist between the first person and the secondperson such that the first person cannot access the private informationabout the second person received from the user agent executing on thesecond HPED; disclosing, by the user agent executing on the second HPEDand to the second person, the private information about the first personreceived from the user agent executing on the first HPED when the useragent executing on the first HPED and the user agent executing on thesecond HPED determine that the common interest exists between the firstperson and the second person; and disclosing, by the user agentexecuting on the first HPED and to the first person, the privateinformation about the second person received from the user agentexecuting on the second HPED when the user agent executing on the firstHPED and the user agent executing on the second HPED determine that thecommon interest exists between the first person and the second person.30. The method of claim 29 further comprising: sending, by the useragent executing on the first HPED and to the user agent executing on thesecond HPED, a friend request asking the second person to be added to anetworking webpage of the first person; visiting, in response toreceiving the friend request and by the user agent executing on thesecond HPED, the networking webpage of the first person to view profileinformation about the first person; determining, by the user agentexecuting on the second HPED and based on analysis of the profileinformation by the user agent executing on the second HPED, whether toaccept or to deny the friend request; and informing the second person,by the user agent executing on the second HPED, whether the user agentexecuting on the second HPED accepted the friend request or denied thefriend request on behalf of the second person, wherein the user agentexecuting on the second HPED is authorized to act on behalf of thesecond user and accept friend requests and deny friend requests.
 31. Themethod of claim 29 further comprising: searching, by the user agentexecuting on the first HPED that is acting on behalf of the first personto assist the first person in finding employment, for other HPEDs withina radius of one kilometer of the first HPED; and sending, by the useragent executing on the first HPED and to user agents executing on theHPEDs within the radius of one kilometer, solicitations for employmentopportunities for the first person, wherein the solicitations includeeducation and professional experiences of the first person.
 32. Themethod of claim 29 further comprising: disclosing, by the user agentexecuting on the second HPED and to the second person and in response tothe user agent executing on the first HPED and the user agent executingon the second HPED determining that the common interest exists betweenthe first person and the second person, the private information aboutthe first person that includes a picture of the first person, a locationof the first person, and contact information about the first person; anddisclosing, by the user agent executing on the first HPED and to thefirst person and in response to the user agent executing on the firstHPED and the user agent executing on the second HPED determining thatthe common interest exists between the first person and the secondperson, the private information about the second person that includes apicture of the second person, a location of the second person, andcontact information about the second person.
 33. The method of claim 29further comprising: displaying, on a display of the first HPED and fromthe user agent executing on the first HPED, a message to the firstperson that instructs the first person that the user agent executing onthe first HPED added the second person to a social networking webpage ofthe first person; and displaying, on a display of the second HPED andfrom the user agent executing on the second HPED, a message to thesecond person that instructs the second person that the user agentexecuting on the second HPED added the first person to a socialnetworking webpage of the second person.
 34. The method of claim 29,wherein the user agent executing on the first HPED is authorized to acton behalf of the first person and has authorization to accept friendrequests to a social networking webpage of the first person and deny thefriend requests to the social networking webpage of the first person,and the first person is not informed that the user agent executing onthe first HPED accepted the friend requests until after a person isalready added to the social networking webpage.
 35. The method of claim29 further comprising: exchanging, between the user agent executing onthe first HPED and the user agent executing on the second HPED, theprivate information about the first person and the private informationabout the second person while maintaining an anonymity of the first andthe second person.
 36. A method executed by user agents executing onhand held portable electronic devices (HPEDs) that exchange personalinformation about two people to determine whether common interests existbetween the two people without disclosing the personal information tothe two people when no common interests exist, the method comprising:sending, by a first user agent executing on a first HPED of a firstperson and to a second user agent executing on a second HPED of a secondperson, a request to exchange personal information about the firstperson and personal information about the second person so the first andsecond user agents can determine if the first and second persons have acommon interest with each other; sending, by the second user agentexecuting on the second HPED and in response to the request, thepersonal information about the second person to the first user agentexecuting on the first HPED; sending, by the first user agent executingon the first HPED, the personal information about the first person tothe second user agent executing on the second HPED; determining, by thefirst user agent executing on the first HPED and based on the personalinformation about the second person received from the second user agentexecuting on the second HPED, if the common interest exists between thefirst person and the second person without disclosing to the firstperson the personal information received from the second user agentexecuting on the second HPED; determining, by the second user agentexecuting on the second HPED and based on the personal information aboutthe first person received from the first user agent executing on thefirst HPED, if the common interest exists between the first person andthe second person without disclosing to the second person the personalinformation received from the first user agent executing on the firstHPED; maintaining, by the first user agent executing on the first HPED,the personal information about the second person received from thesecond user agent executing on the second HPED private by not sharingwith the first person the personal information about the second personreceived from the second user agent executing on the second HPED whenthe first and second user agents determine that the common interest doesnot exist between the first person and the second person such that thefirst person cannot read the personal information about the secondperson received from the second user agent executing on the second HPED;maintaining, by the second user agent executing on the second HPED, thepersonal information about the first person received from the first useragent executing on the first HPED private by not sharing with the secondperson the personal information about the first person received from thefirst user agent executing on the first HPED when the first and seconduser agents determine that the common interest does not exist betweenthe first person and the second person such that the second personcannot read the personal information about the first person receivedfrom the first user agent executing on the first HPED; displaying, on adisplay of the first HPED by the first user agent executing on the firstHPED and to the first person, the personal information about the secondperson received from the second user agent executing on the second HPEDwhen the first and second user agents determine that the common interestexists between the first person and the second person; and displaying,on a display of the second HPED by the second user agent executing onthe second HPED and to the second person, the personal information aboutthe first person received from the first user agent executing on thefirst HPED when the first and second user agents determine that thecommon interest exists between the first person and the second person.37. The method of claim 36 further comprising: sending, from the firstuser agent executing on the first HPED to the second user agentexecuting on the second HPED, a friend request to add the second personto a social network of the first person; and determining, by the seconduser agent executing on the second HPED, whether to accept the friendrequest or to deny the friend request, wherein the second user agentexecuting on the second HPED is authorized to act on behalf of thesecond person to accept the friend request and to deny the friendrequest.
 38. The method of claim 36, wherein the personal informationabout the first person includes a picture of the first person, an age ofthe first person, a gender of the first person, a marital status of thefirst person but does not include a last name of the first person and ahome address of the first person, and wherein the personal informationabout the second person includes a picture of the second person, an ageof the second person, a gender of the second person, a marital status ofthe second person but does not include a last name of the second personand a home address of the second person.
 39. The method of claim 36further comprising: deleting, by the first user agent, the personalinformation about the second person that was received from the seconduser agent when the first and second user agents determine that thecommon interest does not exist between the first and the second person;and deleting, by the second user agent, the personal information aboutthe first person that was received from the first user agent when thefirst and second user agents determine that the common interest does notexist between the first and the second person.
 40. The method of claim36 further comprising: transmitting, from the first user agent to thesecond user agent, a global positioning system (GPS) location of thefirst person when the first and second user agents determine that thecommon interest exists between the first person and the second person;and transmitting, from the second user agent to the first user agent, aGPS location of the second person when the first and second user agentsdetermine that the common interest exists between the first person andthe second person.